Stop interfering with court process

The 14th session of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) starts today in The Hague.

Kenyan legislators from the ruling Jubilee alliance, indicated they would travel enmasse to petition ASP member states to prevail upon the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to use recanted evidence in the cases against Kenya's Deputy, President William Ruto, and journalist Joshua Sang.

Their efforts are likely to come to a dead end following a formal warning from the ICC judges and the Office of the Prosecutor that the cases against William Ruto and Joshua must not be discussed at the ASP meeting. Doing so, in any case, would be sub judice. Legislators from Jubilee have tried hard to discredit the ICC process, yet their efforts are guided more by the need for self-preservation and selfish interests than national good. Many have conveniently forgotten they personally invited what they now refer to as an 'imperialist ICC' to Kenya with their chants in parliament; 'Don't be vague, let's go to The Hague'. This myopia has come back to haunt them.

Political rallies disguised as prayer meetings by the deputy president's loyalists have completely missed the bigger picture. Organisers of these prayer meetings move around completely oblivious of the fact there are traumatised survivors of the post-2007 election horror crying out for justice.

To these leaders, perhaps the deaths of 35 people in the Kiambaa church arson attack are a fairy tale. The more than 1200 people who were needlessly killed are mere statistics. The plight of more than 60,000 people who bore the indignity of living as refugees in their own country in sordid conditions for eight years, is inconsequential.

Politicking will not determine the outcome of these cases. Guilt or the absence thereof will be determined by the ICC on the basis of the evidence. Our legislators must desist from interfering in a court process; more so because they believe that the deputy president is innocent.